NY teen faces sentencing in hate crime stabbing

By FRANK ELTMAN Associated Press Writer

RIVERHEAD, N.Y. (AP) - A New York teenager is facing up to 25 years in prison when he is sentenced in the hate crime killing of an Ecuadorean immigrant.

Nineteen-year-old Jeffrey Conroy was convicted last month of manslaughter and other crimes in the November 2008 stabbing death of Marcelo Lucero (mar-SEHL'-oh loo-SEHR'-oh) on Long Island. Conroy is scheduled to be sentenced Wednesday.

Prosecutors say they'll ask that Conroy serve the maximum of 25 years, although a judge has the option of imposing a minimum sentence of eight years.

Conroy was one of seven teenagers implicated in the killing but the only one to go to trial.

Prosecutors contend he was the one who inflicted the fatal blow during a confrontation near the Patchogue train station. The killing shone a national spotlight on race relations on Long Island.